Valentine's Stakeout
by GabbyDunk
Summary: Quick, one-shot Valentine's story.
1. Chapter 1

She sat in his truck on a stakeout late on February 13th. He sat silently and motionless, staring at the warehouse. They'd been there for almost 2 hours, and had another hour to go.

She'd dressed for the freezing weather and was warm enough in her jeans and sweater, and Ella had sent along a thermos of coffee for her. But she was getting antsy. She started tapping her finger on her leg, then humming.

"Babe."

"What? I'm bored. We haven't seen a single living thing - it's too cold for anyone to be out. Even the criminals gave up and went home."

She looked at him, all seemingly relaxed, still staring at the warehouse. He had on a long-sleeved black Rangeman t-shirt and a thermal t-shirt poking out the collar underneath. He'd cut his hair a while ago, and it sat in semi-long spikes. They were back to Abercrombie Ranger, and she thought it was a good look for him. Ha, she thought - what _wasn't_ a good look for him?

"One more hour, Babe. Then Lester and Bobby will come take over."

She smiled. She figured the Rangeman playboys started collecting notches on their bedposts the second the clock struck V-Day and continued til the last lonely female was satisfied. She thought it funny that they had to start a shift at midnight, and told him so.

He gave a quick half-grin, making her think maybe he or Tank had a part in that scheduling irony. He confirmed it with, "Sometimes it's fun being the boss."

"What about you, Batman? How are you spending the big day?"

"Working."

"Ugh. Lonely hearts club. I'm a lifetime member. What's wrong with us?!" She threw her hands up in the air.

"Babe. You have half the men in Trenton in love, or at least lust, with you."

"Yet, here I am, dateless - again. And, you're one to talk - you have ALL the women in Trenton walking into walls when they see you."

He ignored that, and focused on the information he really wanted. "Morelli?"

"Nope. Finished. Done. We mostly went through the motions to get through the holidays and deal with our families. We just kind of fizzled out after that. I'm surprised you missed the Burg gossip on this."

They lapsed into silence again. A few minutes later, he started to talk, still staring at the warehouse. "I try not to think about you and Morelli too much. It's not a picture I want in my head. So I don't usually ask about you and him."

She looked over at him. He didn't look as relaxed now. "Well, look on the bright side - now there's nothing to think about." She paused. "If it makes you feel any better, I NEVER think of you and another woman. I can't. My mind shuts down whenever the concept even surfaces."

After a minute, he shook his head and let out a sigh. A sigh! "There hasn't been another woman since your birthday."

Her mouth fell open. She let that sink in, and remembered how they'd spent her birthday while she and Morelli were "on a break." She felt the need to fan herself. It had been a one-time thing, and maybe the most spectacular night of her life. She'd known him for almost a year at that point, but they'd never pushed past the invisible boundary before or since then. Lots of flirtation, but nothing more.

"Really? I mean, okay. That's good. Well, I guess not good if you wanted to. So, ummm, me too.

He finally gave up his surveillance watch and looked at her. "What? You too, what?"

Suddenly having an interest in the warehouse, she looked straight ahead. "Morelli and I, well, we never had sex again after my birthday."

She eyed him from the side, and saw him looking at her like she had two heads. "What? I didn't want to." When he continued to stare at her, she finally gave up and laughed. "Okay, I know it's pretty bad. I may have been the worst girlfriend ever."

"Babe. _That's_ a picture I like having in my head." She went to smack him, and he caught her hand and held it.

"Celibacy sucks. But I couldn't. I think you ruined me. At least you've been pining away for me, too." She told him, liking how he was rubbing his fingers over her hand.

"I don't think I was pining." At her look, he said, "Okay, maybe a little. And I didn't ruin you, Babe. We ruined each other - for anyone else. I'm betting we still work together."

When the clock hit midnight, Ranger put his hand behind her neck and pulled her towards him. "Happy Valentine's Day, Babe," he said before lowering his mouth to hers.


	2. Chapter 2

St. Patrick's Day Stakeout

Steph thought of tonight as a stakeout - of sorts.

She and Lula had met a nice guy at work. That meant, of course, they met a nice skip. He seemed semi-normal, but you can never be too careful. So when he bonded out again and asked Lula for drinks, Steph and Connie went too...as backup.

It just so happened it was St. Patrick's Day and the bars were loaded with green beer! While she and Connie watched Lula and her skip from across the bar, they worked their way through a pitcher of green beer.

When Ranger and some of his guys rolled in around 7:30, after catching their last skip, Steph was well on her way to a good buzz.

"Hi, Babe. Having fun?" He asked leaning down to kiss her, something he'd done A LOT since Valentine's Day and their stakeout confessions to each other.

"Yes! But I'm glad you're here! Lula's date seems to be going really well."

"How's the beer, Beautiful? Save any for me?" Lester slid onto the stool next to Connie.

"How can you tell the date's going well?" Bobby asked. "Because he's still here?"

Steph smacked him, and then burst out laughing because he was kind of right. Tank could only shake his head.

"So, I'm guessing you got Alvarez?" Connie asked Tank. "Vinnie has his panties in a twist over that guy."

"Yeah. Dude pulled a knife. We broke his arm."

"Eh, whatever. I'll mail the check to Rangeman." Connie was over the skips and their gripes.

After a few more pitchers of the green beer, Lula's date was STILL there. They'd move onto the tiny dance floor, and none of them could watch Lula's gyrations for long. "My eyes," whined Bobby. "I can't watch anymore," complained Lester.

"Man up." This from Tank.

"Pussies." This from Ranger.

"Easy for you two to say," Lester said. "You've already seen ALL of that," pointing to Tank. "And you haven't seen ANY of it because you've had your tongue down Steph's throat for the last half hour," pointing to Ranger.

Connie piped in, "Look, she's coming this way! Shhhhhh."

Sure enough, Lula was coming towards them, sans her date.

"So! How'd it go?" Steph asked.

"Okay, I guess. He had to go, and said he'd call me."

"Well, that's good," Connie said. "No bad vibes?"

"Other than I feel like he just blew me off? It's St. Patrick's Day! I'm supposed to get lucky!" Lula looked perplexed, and a little pissed.

Steph heard Lester choke (or gag) behind her, and drew Lula's attention to her, "You did get lucky. You met a nice guy! That doesn't happen every day!"

Semi-convinced and mollified, Lula looked at Steph and Ranger. "Hey Batman, you probably think you're gonna get lucky tonight, right?"

Ranger, always amused by Lula, played along. He put his arm around Steph and said, "I'm not Irish, but I like my chances."

Steph rolled her eyes. Duh, she thought. He'd gotten lucky every day for the past month, and so had she!

She looked around when she heard laughter, and realized she'd said that out loud. The guys were fist bumping Ranger, and the girls stood motionless with their mouths hanging open.

"Babe." She buried her head into his chest.

Lester, suitably impressed, couldn't keep quiet. "Beautiful. You might be the best girlfriend ever!"

She looked up at Ranger, remembering their Valentine's Day conversation about her being the worst girlfriend ever - to Joe.

Reading her mind, he leaned down and whispered, "He's right, and not just because of our sex life. You're perfect."

When she kissed him, he picked her up and flipped her so she was straddling him on the bar stool.

Her oblivious and him comfortable that his guys had his back, they made out like teenagers. And didn't even hear Lula say at least she was going to watch someone else get lucky today.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!


End file.
